Javelina Euro Mount

[Seavas]

On our south Texas deer hunt last fall we figured we would take a couple javelinas since we always see them and have never shot any. Plus, a little variety from the whitetails. Spot and stalk in the senderos and clearcuts, pretty fun stuff. Anyways, I just finished up the skulls and got them on the mantle. Interesting little addition.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

Nice sculls! How big was the pig?

 

[BourbonTrail]

Good looking Javies!!

 

[Ragman]

Such cool looking skulls that are a “must Have” for my skull collection. But Javelina are pretty scarce up here in Canada! Lol. Nice job by the way.

 

[JimP]

I've been hunting them for over 26 years now down in Arizona and have quite a few skulls. I started doing my own around 15 years ago and they come out almost as nice as the ones that I had done at Skulls Unlimited. I actually had enough of them that I started trading them off for other things but still have quite a collection.

 

[buck wild]

They are cool euros for sure for a giant rat ! Actually a flared out, open mouth mount is quite nice.

Nice sculls! How big was the pig?

On average they are 25-40 lbs. More menacing looking than they are big and they can be really aggressive.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Nice job.

 

[Seavas]

Nice sculls! How big was the pig?

Did not weigh them, but as mentioned above, I'm guessing they were 30 -35lbs.

 

[Ryan]

They are cool euros for sure for a giant rat ! Actually a flared out, open mouth mount is quite nice.



On average they are 25-40 lbs. More menacing looking than they are big and they can be really aggressive.

They aren't a rat or rodent. Every now and again someone says that, though I'm not sure why. Easiest way to disprove that is when was the last time you saw a hooved rat, mouse, squirrel etc? They are a suiform and distantly related to old world pigs.

Great work on your skulls.

I hunted them a few years while living in Tucson. Out of season I practically tripped over them in archery season they disappeared. I earned mine and gsined axlot of experience from hunting them. I did my own cleaning for my skull mount. Guessing mine was around 40 lbs, taken down near Sasabe, Arizona

 

[Trail Rated]

Javelina hunting is some of my favorite hunting. No, they aren’t rodents, and yes, you can eat them if you process and prepare them correctly.

 

[wesheltonj]

Javelina hunting is some of my favorite hunting. No, they aren’t rodents, and yes, you can eat them if you process and prepare them correctly.

View attachment 475401

They may not be in the rodent family, but they act like a bunch of pack rats. I have tons of them. In Texas they are now classified as game animals with a bag limit, which has cause a population explosion in South Texas.

Interesting animal. Before being game animals, you could tame them down and make pets out of them. You could put a leash on them and walk them like a dog. They have poor eyesight and I can usually walk up to about 30 feet from them before they run.

You can eat them, but you need to shoot a young one. The meat is awful. And if you cut the gland on the back prepare to stink and toss the meat.

Those skulls do make nice trophies though.

 

[Ryan]

They may not be in the rodent family, but they act like a bunch of pack rats. I have tons of them. In Texas they are now classified as game animals with a bag limit, which has cause a population explosion in South Texas.

Interesting animal. Before being game animals, you could tame them down and make pets out of them. You could put a leash on them and walk them like a dog. They have poor eyesight and I can usually walk up to about 30 feet from them before they run.

You can eat them, but you need to shoot a young one. The meat is awful. And if you cut the gland on the back prepare to stink and toss the meat.

Those skulls do make nice trophies though.

The meat I have had was good and mine was a matue male. The biggest factor is don't touch that gland on their back. Skin the whole hide off, which will take the gland with it, and then deal with meat.

 

[JimP]

I agree that the meat is just fine, leave the stink gland alone it will just come off with the hide.

I have killed and cooked a number of them and love to feed the meat to unsuspecting folks that would never touch them. They are usually looking for the scraps in the bottom of the pan before I tell them what it was that they were eating. I like to slow smoke them over mesquite wood for about 7 hours, it comes out fantastic.

 

[White32]

Nice looking skul, nice job !

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I agree that the meat is just fine, leave the stink gland alone it will just come off with the hide.

I have killed and cooked a number of them and love to feed the meat to unsuspecting folks that would never touch them. They are usually looking for the scraps in the bottom of the pan before I tell them what it was that they were eating. I like to slow smoke them over mesquite wood for about 7 hours, it comes out fantastic.

Not to hi-jack the OP’s post, but does it matter where the pig lives, as to taste? The Arizonians I have asked say they taste like shit.
I know that here in Ontario, black bears near town’s taste and smell like shit, as they eat a lot of peoples garbage, are javelina the same?

 

[JimP]

In the 26 years that we have been hunting them in Arizona we have had one that couldn't be eaten. That one was shot during the rifle hunt towards the end of February and it was hot and took a while to find it. It even stunk then.

I think that the key is to get them cooled off and take care of the meat. If you throw it into the back of a truck and drive around all day before you skin it you might be asking for bad tasting meat. We try to skin them within a couple of hours of being shot and if we don't we find a cool spot in some trees to hang them.

The first one that I ever saw shot the hunters skinned it right on the spot before taking it home. This cools the meat off and gets rid of the gland that is on the back to where you don't have to worry about it.

 

[Sarg]

That’s nice work, would love to get one for my pig & skull collection to !

 

[Boyd Brooks]

In the 26 years that we have been hunting them in Arizona we have had one that couldn't be eaten. That one was shot during the rifle hunt towards the end of February and it was hot and took a while to find it. It even stunk then.

I think that the key is to get them cooled off and take care of the meat. If you throw it into the back of a truck and drive around all day before you skin it you might be asking for bad tasting meat. We try to skin them within a couple of hours of being shot and if we don't we find a cool spot in some trees to hang them.

The first one that I ever saw shot the hunters skinned it right on the spot before taking it home. This cools the meat off and gets rid of the gland that is on the back to where you don't have to worry about it.

Good to know that environment is not the cause but more often poor judgment that would result in bad tasting meat. That is the case with all game. Even as party hunter’s, our group looks after any animal before we look for another.

 

[MarkB]

I have never looked up what they are, I do know that they stink from smelling and watching the specimens at the San Diego Zoo, I do know that your euro skull looks awesome and I would love to hunt and therefore have one in my memory room.

Good job on the great addition.

MB

 

[BourbonTrail]

They may not be in the rodent family, but they act like a bunch of pack rats. I have tons of them. In Texas they are now classified as game animals with a bag limit, which has cause a population explosion in South Texas.

Interesting animal. Before being game animals, you could tame them down and make pets out of them. You could put a leash on them and walk them like a dog. They have poor eyesight and I can usually walk up to about 30 feet from them before they run.

You can eat them, but you need to shoot a young one. The meat is awful. And if you cut the gland on the back prepare to stink and toss the meat.

Those skulls do make nice trophies though.

As a teenager, I used to get a kick out of scaring the hell out of them…until I ran into a pack/sounder, whatever, and then I promptly stopped that nonsense. All that to say that they truly have terrible eyesight.